


a tad human

by remi_wolf



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, M/M, at least as much as these two can manage, no edits no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24953059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_wolf/pseuds/remi_wolf
Summary: These quiet moments and evenings were remarkably rare. Even while accounting for the many months that Peter would spend off at sea, quiet evenings with Peter’s head in his lap were rare. Peter usually refused to indulge in these moments, and Elias even more rarely admitted that he was human enough to desire this sort of quiet contact between the two of them.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 75
Collections: Beguilements and Distractions





	a tad human

These quiet moments and evenings were remarkably rare. Even while accounting for the many months that Peter would spend off at sea, quiet evenings with Peter’s head in his lap were rare. Peter usually refused to indulge in these moments, and Elias even more rarely admitted that he was human enough to desire this sort of quiet contact between the two of them. However, here they were, with Elias dragging his hands through Peter’s pale hair. 

In truth, though, it was usually Elias who broke the silence between them more frequently than Peter did. Peter was used to the quiet and the suffocating silence, even though the ocean was very rarely a properly quiet place to settle and stay. Especially on larger ships, there was always some sort of noise that would fill a person’s ears. Still, with the Lonely’s fog, Peter was far more used to the quiet than Elias ever could be. 

Elias was used to the buzz of information. Even if he was alone in his office, he could usually hear the murmur of voices and whispered secrets that would ruin lives if spilled out to public knowledge. Usually, he kept news programs on, or podcasts, or other such entertainments, as the Beholding in him constantly craved new information all the time. Even now, he was fighting hard not to start squirming to reach out for the television remote, just to get something spinning off in the background as he doted on Peter. Or, more accurately, as Peter doted on him. 

All of which simply made it more startling when Peter finally broke the silence, late that night, with quietly murmured words that chased away the fog that dared to creep in at the corners of the doorways.

“You’re going to get me killed, aren’t you?” 

Elias hummed as he heard the quiet question, thinking over it, and thinking over the plans that he had in store. In truth, part of him was already startled that Peter had survived this long. While he grew up steeped in the Lonely’s cult, he always seemed soft on some level. He genuinely cared for his crew, in whatever odd way he showed that, and he certainly cared for Elias, if the fact that Elias’ flat was just as much Peter’s when the captain was in London. Truly, it was a miracle that the Lonely hadn’t devoured Peter already for being the exact opposite of lonely. “What makes you say that, dear?”

“None of your other lovers have survived.” Peter’s words were quiet, without any sort of accusation within them. Really, it would be sweet, if it wasn’t the two of them sitting here. 

“Mordecai lived a long, full life. At least, as full as any of your sort can.” Elias smiled faintly at the quiet reminder of the man, so vastly different from Peter that he wouldn’t have believed that the two were related, if it wasn’t for their affinity for the Forsaken and the fact that Elias had watched the family for two centuries now. “I doubt you want to listen to me talking about your relatives, however.”

Peter huffed a laugh before shaking his head. Elias smiled faintly as he watched a small wisp of fog spill from Peter’s lips. “No. I don’t particularly think I want to hear about my family at all.” Peter had a small smile on his face, though, and Elias gently pushed his hair out of his face, deciding not to mention the fact that none of the Lukases had dovetailed quite so nicely into his plans before as Peter had. If he did that, then Peter would likely realize that he would be one of the handful of Lukases to end up dying because of his plans.

“Then I won’t tell you.” Elias closed his eyes, still gently playing through Peter’s hair. It was quiet, and while part of him itched to Look at Jon, see how his Archivist was handling the latest difficulties, he was more focused on Peter right now. That, and it was also far more pleasant to look at Peter, and see how closely he could See before he got a migraine from staring into the frigid fog that obscured him. “I can promise that I’m not intending to kill you, or get you killed.”

There was another one of Peter’s laughs, almost sounding like waves crashing against rocks, and Elias smiled just barely to himself, more the ghost of an impression of a smile than a proper smile. “But that means that there’s a chance, doesn’t it? No matter your intentions, I am still very likely to be killed because you grew too greedy for world domination.”

“I can’t plan for every eventuality, Peter.”

“No, but you can See most of them.”

Elias sighed softly before taking a deep breath before shaking his head. “I suppose you’re right, though plans like that are far closer to the Web’s domain than it is my Eye’s.”

Peter remained quiet for a little while after that, relaxing and humming some silly shanty under his breath. Elias sighed softly, flicking his nose. 

“I thought you hated those.”

“I hate when people try to join in. I like it plenty on my own. Proper sea captain music.”

“You’re barely a captain.”

Peter cracked open an eye, just enough for Elias to watch him roll his eyes. “I’m a proper captain.”

“You sit in your office on your ship and you have your first mate do the majority of the work.”

Peter huffed, and looked away, and Elias couldn’t help the quiet laugh as his comment was entirely proven true with Peter’s lack of response. He gently pulled at Peter’s hair, smiling faintly as he felt the man relax against him better. The return to quiet felt more normal, though there was still an odd current of tension that Elias could practically feel going down Peter’s back. He didn’t particularly care for it, and he certainly didn’t want it to ruin what had been a perfectly lovely evening so far. There were so few evenings like this that he didn’t want to ruin this one.

“Your ship is lovely, as always.”

That seemed to surprise Peter, and he sat up, blinking at Elias. Well, there was that plan of keeping him on his lap out the window. Truly, he was far better at the wider-reaching ones for world domination. 

“I thought you hated my ship.”

“I hate the Fog, Peter. I certainly don’t mind ships or voyages in a purely theoretical sense. I’ve certainly been on my fair share of them in my time.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“No, what’s ridiculous is you insisting that I don’t like your ship. I simply don’t like the way you hide it away in the Lonely more often than not. It makes it rather difficult to See you when you do.”

A funny expression slid over Peter’s face at that comment, and Elias desperately tried to hide his own. Perhaps that had gotten too personal. Certainly, it wasn’t any more personal than they occasionally got, though that tended to require a few bottles of wine first. Of course, whatever confession Peter had heard in that wasn’t anywhere near what a mundane human would think to be a confession of sorts. “I wasn’t aware you wanted to look at me.”

“Of course I’d want to Look at you. I want to Look at and Watch everything,” Elias said, unable to quite manage to say it as dismissively as he might have liked, and Peter certainly caught that, if the smirk that spread across his face meant anything. 

“Oh, really? You want to look at me and see all of the awful things I get up to?” 

“Hush. That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Peter laughed softly, this time pulling Elias in and gently scratching his scalp as he played with his hair. It entirely ruined Elias’ carefully polished appearance, but as he was pulled in close to Peter, he thought that, perhaps, this was one time in which he didn’t mind being a tad human.


End file.
